Justice News

Gooding Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Distribution of Child Pornography

BOISE – Yazmani Gomez-Sandoval, 36, of Gooding, Idaho, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Boise to 240 months in prison to be followed by a life term of supervised release, for possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced. The sentence was imposed by Chief U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill. Gomez-Sandoval pleaded guilty on June 13, 2018.

According to court records, in June 2017, agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) identified Gomez-Sandoval as one of many individuals accessing an online chat room and trading images and videos of child pornography. On at least five occasions, Gomez-Sandoval posted digital video files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including images of toddlers and infants and sadistic and masochistic abuse, in the chat room.

In December 2017, HSI agents obtained a search warrant for Gomez-Sandoval’s residence in Gooding. They seized and searched Gomez-Sandoval’s cellphone, where they discovered approximately 71 images and 15 videos depicting child pornography. Gomez-Sandoval admitted to agents that he accessed the online chat room and traded images of child pornography with other individuals. He also admitted to agents that he had recently sexually abused a six or seven year old child in Gooding, and had sexually abused three other children between the ages of 4 and 6 while in Mexico between 2003 and 2006.

“This case demonstrates the importance of investigating those persons involved in possessing, receiving, distributing and producing child pornography,” U.S. Attorney Davis said. “Often, persons involved in child pornography also have committed hands-on sex offenses. By focusing on these investigations, we may be preventing the future sexual abuse of a child. I commend Homeland Security Investigations for their efforts in this case. Thanks to their diligence, Mr. Gomez-Sandoval was held responsible for his actions, and no longer represents a threat to children in Idaho.”

“We are dedicated to removing these dangerous predators from the community,” said Brad Bench, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Seattle. “Combatting individuals who prey on our most vulnerable, our children, is of the utmost importance to HSI and our law enforcement partners. We must protect our children from those who seek to harm them.”

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, and was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.